


Memento

by Aqualisier



Category: Persona 2
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 17:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2740925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aqualisier/pseuds/Aqualisier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was still one last promise Tatsuya had to keep. Post-EP, Tatsuya/Jun if you squint.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memento

"Brother," Tatsuya said abruptly, several paces behind Katsuya.  
  
The two of them, along with Maya, Ulala, and Baofu, had been traversing the Monad Mandala for hours without respite, and by now they were likely nearing the end. They had faced their shadows, saved Eikichi and Lisa, and avoided every trick Nyarlathotep had laid in store for them. So, then, that meant the only one left was…  
  
The thought made Tatsuya's stomach churn. Of course he would make Jun the final toy. Jun was the one chance he had of truly atoning, and Nyarlathotep knew this. He knew how deep the promises between them ran, and how difficult it had been for Tatsuya to so much as look him in the eye during their brief reunion. There was so much he wanted to say, so much he was never able to tell him, but he had no place ruining his best friend's happiness in this world. He had let down everyone, but Jun especially.  
  
After all, hadn't the two of them promised to protect Maya-nee together forever? Hadn't that gone well.  
  
Tatsuya had made up his mind already, though on some level he had known all along. Even after they defeated Nyarlathotep, it wouldn't be over unless the paradox was resolved. He had spent long nights agonizing over his decision, suffocating in guilt, but… now that he was here with Maya and the others, it seemed easier to accept. The "adult" thing to do would be to accept the consequences, repent, and move on, wouldn't it?  
  
Katsuya stopped, and turned. The rest of the group did as well, but one look at his little brother's face was enough for Katsuya to know this was a private matter. "Excuse us for just a moment," he said.  
  
Baofu smirked, but nodded understandingly. "You heard him," he said, and started walking again. "Don't fall too far behind, alright?"  
  
Maya looked like she was about to say something, and her eyes briefly locked with Tatsuya's, but she turned away with a sorrowful glance. He shut his eyes, and turned his attention back to his brother.  
  
"What's this about?" Katsuya asked.  
  
For a moment, Tatsuya met his gaze, but the words he wanted wouldn't come. He could confess that this was all his fault, or say that after they defeated Nyarlathotep he would be leaving for good, or ask him to protect everyone on his behalf after everything was over, or let him know that he would have his support if he was serious about Maya, or just apologize. Apologize for the state of the world, apologize for worrying him, apologize for taking him for granted, tell him how very, very sorry he was for absolutely everything. He swallowed, and looked away.  
  
Something about just leaving like this didn't sit right with him.  
  
Half-instinctually, Tatsuya reached for the lighter in his pocket. He flicked the lid open—it seemed this nervous tic of his stretched across universes—but paused, and instead of closing it lit the flame. In this realm, it shone as brightly as one of the egos illuminating the void that stretched endlessly in every direction, and just like the watch this incarnation of himself kept in his room to this day it was amazing that it still worked. It didn't so much as flicker.  
  
Tatsuya stared into the flame, transfixed. Ever since he had received Jun's lighter again, he often found himself staring at it, rereading the inscription over and over until it was burned into his eyes. It had pained him at first, a constant reminder that the two of them could never be together again, but now it was almost a source of comfort. It was a reminder of the times they had shared, and of the light that had found its way into Jun's eyes on This Side that Tatsuya hadn't seen since they were children. Even after everything that had happened, that alone was enough to make Tatsuya smile.

And it was a reminder of the promises they had made—the promises Tatsuya would keep, even if it killed him.

He shut the lighter. "I was wondering…" he said at last, "if you had a pen and paper."

 

* * *

 

It was easy to lose yourself in the sea of people in a city as large as Sumaru, and lately, for Jun Kashihara, observing the daily commute made his existence feel more and more like a blur. 

He didn't have a watch, so he wasn't sure how long he had been standing out in the rain, solitude infringed by the frequent passerby, but by this point he was beginning to suspect that his bus was running late. His parents would be worried if he came home after hours, he mused. Not that he could blame them for being a bit more on edge regarding his safety than usual, after what had happened. If he were a parent, he was sure he'd be just as concerned.

It had been about a week since the incident, and when they had heard, they had immediately rushed to his side to make sure he was alright. He had surprisingly escaped without physical harm, but the doctor his parents had taken him to had told them he might suffer from psychological scars and PTSD, depending on how bad things had gotten. And it was true, to an extent. He had been awfully absentminded since the event—more so than he usually was. His teachers had been willing to cut him some slack, and even his classmates seemed sympathetic. He'd been attacked by a murderer, after all!

Strangely, it was difficult to even process what had happened. The doctor had said it was normal to feel a sense of avoidance towards traumatic memories, even going so far as to suppress them entirely in extreme cases, but Jun never found that explanation satisfactory for the sense of… wrongness he had felt ever since that day. Daily life felt like a dream, and things that he had taken for simple facts of life—his parents, possessions, many of his friends—were out of place, as if a familiar picture had been tampered with but he had never noticed.

If he had to put it into words, it was that it had occurred to him that he was missing something important, but he couldn't remember what it was. Even at Aerospace, he had felt the strangest sense of deja vu, and he knew it wasn’t normal to remember the face of a woman you encountered once at the train station—his memory was sharp, but not _that_ sharp. That ruled out the idea that this was just a trauma-induced state of delusion, but then what was going on? What was it that he felt was just beyond his reach, separated from him by a void that permeated his very being, that seemed to lead him, as well as his school’s Boss and a girl from Sevens, to the Araya Shrine?

The man who had attacked him had given him a thoroughwort… “Remember the day,” but what day was he supposed to be remembering? Was he dreaming, or were his strange feelings the remnants of a dream, finally resurfacing after being long forgotten?

Above the sound of rain, Jun heard the whirr of an engine and the sloshing of water, and lifted his head. The bus must be here. It pulled up to where he and a few others stood, slowing to a halt beside the curb and the doors opening with a hiss. He watched as the others clambered on board, slower to respond himself and not wanting to fight his way through a small crowd. After a moment’s hesitation, he stepped onto the platform, folding his umbrella, not noticing the frantic sound of footsteps from somewhere behind him, until—

“Wait, are you—!”

Jun’s heart skipped a beat. He knew that voice.

He stopped, one foot on the bus, and turned around. An auburn-haired young man from Sevens stood, soaked head-to-toe from the rain and chest heaving slightly. How could he forget? More unkempt than Jun remembered, to be certain, and his clothes weren’t as flashy, but there was no mistaking him. The mysterious “deja vu boy,” as he was apparently dubbed—an apt name, because the sense of familiarity Jun felt was stronger around him than anyone else.

In response to the torrent of emotion, nostalgia, and unanswered questions, he blinked. “Tatsuya Suou.”  

It wasn’t much of a question, but a confirmation that his mysterious rescuer from Aerospace, the same one who had known his name, was indeed standing before him. He had been finding that he quite liked the way that name rolled off his tongue.

Tatsuya said nothing for a moment, then straightened his posture, his expression decidedly more neutral. “You’re Jun Kashihara, right?” When Jun nodded, he continued. “How do you know me?”

That was a bit surprising. Did he… forget?

Jun stepped off the platform, and turned his attention completely to the other boy. “Don’t you remember?” he asked, more puzzled than offended. “About a week ago, at the Aerospace museum… you saved my life.”

“…Did I?” He shifted uncomfortably, and withdrew the lighter Jun had given him on that day from his pocket. For a moment, the click that resounded when he flicked the cap open was the only sound that passed between them. “I…” he continued, placing his hands in his pockets and staring at the ground, “I heard about what happened the other day, but I can’t really remember anything around that time. My memory’s been hazy lately.”

“Oh,” Jun said, and he couldn’t help feeling a little bit hurt, though he doubted it was anything personal. He was unmistakably the same Tatsuya Suou who had rescued him and the others, but there was something very different about the way he carried himself that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. “So,” he went on after a moment’s silence, “did you need something from me?”

Tatsuya quickly lifted his head. “Right, uh,” he rummaged around one of his pockets, “A couple days ago, I found a note in one of my pockets that told me to give something to a student at Kasugayama named Jun Kashihara, so I asked around and found you here. I don’t know what it was or how it got there, but it… it was in my own handwriting.”

That same sense of deja vu began creeping in again. Jun briefly flicked his gaze to the pocket where Tatsuya had put his lighter. “What was it?”

“Nothing, really. Just an old watch of mine.”

He took the item in question from his pocket, and handed it to Jun. It was an analog, and it didn’t look like it had seen much use lately. It still worked, but several flecks of dust were visible around its crevices. He examined it for a moment, and looked back up at Tatsuya. “Thanks,” he said, smiling. “It’s nice.”

Tatsuya shrugged and looked away. “It’s yours, if you want it. I got it from my dad as a kid, so I’m not sure why it’d have anything to do with you. The note didn’t say anything about who you were or why you’d want it, so… do you know anything about this?”

Jun thought back to their encounter on the blimp, and how he had been so compelled to give Tatsuya his lighter as a token of appreciation—the lighter his father had given him as a child when he quit smoking. He wondered if the correlation there was coincidental, or…

He shook his head. “No, this is the first time I’ve seen it in my life.” He slipped it on his left wrist. It suited him, he thought. “But you know, I’ve been thinking lately that I should get one of these. I always seem to be losing track of time.”

“No kidding?” Tatsuya gestured to the area behind Jun. “Sorry I made you miss your bus.”

“Huh?” Jun turned his head. At some point, the bus he had been waiting for took off without him. “Oh, I didn’t even notice,” he said, and faced Tatsuya again. “The next one doesn’t arrive for over an hour, so I guess I’ll just walk from here.”

“What direction are you headed in?” Tatsuya asked. Jun looked at him, and he quickly averted his gaze, blushing slightly. “I mean… since you missed your bus, I thought I should at least walk you to the next stop.”

Jun stopped for a moment, and checked the time on his newly acquired wristwatch. It was earlier than he thought, and he was sure his parents would understand regardless. Maybe it was a bit reckless to be so trusting of somebody he barely knew, but the thought hardly registered.

He turned back to Tatsuya, and a smile spread across his lips. “Alright. I’ll lead the way.”

**Author's Note:**

> You are now aware that the one-sided gift exchange on the blimp was symbolic of Tatsuya's unfulfilled promise. This is my first Persona fic, so I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> (I originally intended this to be more shippy. It's funny how these things turn out.)


End file.
